Who cares about end of life care?

/ NEWS & EVENTS

Wednesday, 01 April 2015

The countdown to the general election has begun and Peace Hospice Care are amongst the many charities and organisations nationwide who are calling on all political parties to make sure they urgently prioritise improving end of life care.

Peace Hospice Care Chief Executive, Sue Plummer is also
urging prospective local MPS to make Hospice care a priority in the community, and to
ensure funding needs are not forgotten.

Hospice UK, who will be advocating for hospice care during
the general election campaign have some hard hitting facts to support their
calls to action.

Their statistics reveal that three million people will die
over the course of the next Parliament, millions more will be bereaved yet end
of life care still needs improvement.

At present, the waiting time for social care for the
terminally ill needs urgent attention. Some people exhaust their finances
purchasing their own care, others die waiting.

Their polling of health and social care professionals find
that 73% agree that some of the money spent providing acute end of life care in
hospitals could be better spent on free social care in the community, and that
hospital costs at the end of life can be more than five times the cost of
social care in the community.

Hospices up and down the country are currently facing huge
challenges financially and Peace Hospice Care have recently needed to refine their services.

Hospice Chief Executive Sue Plummer said, 'Despite our best
efforts, we have seen a steady decline in charitable income which has meant
that we need to plan for a future with less funds available. We know that
demand for our services will continue to increase and it's important that we
plan in such a way now that means that we can continue to deliver key services
over the coming years.'

'Having to raise more than £4 million each year is a heavy
burden for us at a time when we are looking to increase the number of people
that need our care and support.We all
need end of life services and many of us will know someone who needs them
now.We urge all political parties to
help make hospice and end of life care a priority.'